85 Halloween Songs

Most so-called “Halloween hits” are really just songs about angst, depression, abuse, suicide and murder. These might be a Goth’s idea of paradise. However, these are also just regular things shown on the news daily. It’s hardly Halloween.

Apparently, Halloween’s true meaning has fallen by the wayside in a society that wants to be all “extreme” and “edgy”. Halloween is not about death and dying. It’s about honoring or celebrating the, already, dead in order to keep them from returning to the living world along with their otherworldly friends. The holiday also demonstrates the consequences of their return.

In the true spirit of Halloween, this list is full of what I consider to be representative of the holiday season. Every song suggestion is reviewed for lyrics as well as sound. All songs are about the paranormal or Halloween items such as costumes, candy, pumpkins and chilling, non-ordinary scares. Cuss-happy lyrics need not apply. While there are plenty of great sad songs out there, this list is a party playlist. Lesley Gore may want to cry at her party but we sure don’t!

Enjoy this list of 85 upbeat, mostly clean (A little gore, euphemisms and minor swears) tunes for your Hallowday season presented by the Old Pumpkin Keeper.

The Old Pumpkin Keeper’s List of Tunes for the Hallowday Season

The Adams Family Theme - Vic Mizzy
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes - (1980 Movie Theme)
Boris The Spider - The Who
Bones - Little Big Town
Brains – Voltaire
Bride of Frankenstein - Elvira, Mistress of the Dark
Calling all the Monsters - China Anne McClain
The Candy Man - Sammy Davis Jr. (what's Halloween without candy?)
Casper The Friendly Ghost - Little Richard
Can't Sleep, The Clowns will eat me - Alice Cooper
The Cockroach That Ate Cincinnati - Rose & the Arrangement
The Creature From The Black Lagoon - Dave Edmunds
Curse of the Werewolf - Timeless Miracle
Dark Lady – Cher
Day of the Dead – Voltaire
Devil Went Down to Georgia - Charlie Daniels Band
Do the Zombie - Chubby Checker
Don’t Look Now - The Misfits (Jem and the Holograms ep ‘Trick or Techrat’)
Dream Warriors - Dokken (Nightmare on Elm St 3)
Drink With the Living Dead – Ghoultown
The Eggplant That Ate Chicago - Dr. West's Medicine Show & Junk Band
Everyday is Halloween - Ministry
Flying Saucer Attack - Rezillos
Ghostbusters - Ray Parker Jr.
Ghost in a Bikini - The Judys
Ghost Riders In the Sky - The Outlaws
Give Me a Smile (Pumpkin Song) - Andrew Gold
The Greatest Show Unearthed - Creature Feature
Grim-Grinning Ghosts - (Haunted Mansion Theme) Thurl Ravenscroft & the Mello-Men
Halloween Song - Al Dana
Haunted House - Gene Simmons
Hearse Song - Unknown (Halloween just isn't without the instrumental version of this song!)
He’s Back (The Man Behind the Mask) - Alice Cooper (Friday the 13th part VI)
Hephelumps and Woozles - (Winnie the Pooh)
Highway Cafe of the Damned - Austin Lounge Lizards
House Party at Arkham Asylum - The Great Luke Ski
I Died So I Could Haunt You - Stars I Put a Spell On You - Screamin' Jay Hawkins.
I Put a Spell On You - Bette Midler (Disney movie Hocus Pocus)
It’s Terror Time Again - Skycycle
Legend Of Wooley Swamp - Charlie Daniels Band
Little Demon - Screamin' Jay Hawkins
Little Ghost - The White Stripes
Little Shop of Horrors - (1986 Movie title song)
Maneater - Hall & Oates
The Martian Hop - The Ran-Dells
McCavity - Cats
The Meanest Meanest Pumpkin In The Land - Alan Kirk
The Monster Mash - Bobby "Boris" Pickett
Monster’s Holiday - Buck Owens
Monster Squad - (Movie end credit song)
Mr. Ghost Goes to Town - The 5 Jones Boys
Nature Trail to Hell - Weird Al Yankovic
Nightmare on My Street - DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince
Pet Sematary - The Ramones
Phantom 309 - Red Sovine
Purple People Eater - Sheb Wooley
Scary Ned - Arrogant Worms
Shalloween - Andy Partridge
Shiver My Timbers - Muppets (Muppet Treasure Island)
Sittin' Up With The Dead - Ray Stevens
Skeleton Song - Kate Nash
Skullivan Walks - They Might Be Giants
Spooky - Classic 5
Star Trekkin - The Firm (Dr. Demento 20th Anniversary Collection)
Superstition - Stevie Wonder
Surfin’ Dead - The Cramps
Swamp Witch - Jim Stafford
That Old Black Magic - Margaret Whiting
There’s a Zombie on Your Lawn – Laura Shigihara
This Is Halloween - Danny Elfman (Nightmare Before Christmas)
Thriller - Michael Jackson
Time Warp - Damian (Rocky Horror Picture Show)
Trick or Treat - Elvira, Mistress of the Dark
Trick or Treat (for Halloween) - The Mickey Mouse Club (1952 Donald Duck cartoon theme)
Walking Alone - Rusty (Haunted History episode Haunted Tombstone)
Weird Science - Oingo Boingo
Werewolves Of London - Warren Zevon
Wicked Old Witch - John Fogarty
Witch Queen Of New Orleans - Redbone
Witchy Woman - Eagles
Your Brains - Jonathan Coulton
Zombies Ate Her Brain - The Creepshow
Zombie Jamboree - Rock-a-Pella
Zombie Love Song - Ray Johnson
Zombie Stomp - Elvira, Mistress of the Dark

And of course.... There's a Monster Mountain of Instrumental music

Anything by "The Midnight Syndicate"

Movie/TV Theme Examples (Impossible to list them all) Beetlejuice Theme
Friday the 13th Theme
Exorcist Theme
Gremlins Theme
Halloween Theme
Nightmare - Artie Shaw
Invader Zim Theme
Jaws Theme
Nightmare on Elm St Theme
Night On Bald Mountain (Disney's Fantaisia)
Tales From the Crypt Theme
Toccata and Fugue in D Minor (Phantom of the Opera theme)
Twilight Zone Theme

Video Game Examples American McGee’s Alice
Fatal Frame series
Luigi’s Mansion
Silent Hill series
…Just to name a few

A Season of Sparkles

Look, Ma! It’s January! As our year begins anew, we embrace the month of diets, taxes, holiday regrets, winter blues and the pre Valentine’s Day onslaught. It’s the perfect season for…the vampire.

I’m sure your first thought after that double take must be something along the lines of “What are you smoking?’ The answer is nothing. It’s too expensive and very bad for your health.

So please sit back as I explain. Thanks to a certain series of books, the vampire has become more romanticized than ever before. Many people just adore the lustful, free spirited, sexy, usually wealthy, and angsty undead beings known as “the children of the night”.

I’m thoroughly amused by the fact that the Twilight book series has been out since 2005 and people are still whining about sparkles. Get over yourselves! I’m not crazy about the new fad myself. But it’s not worth going gray over. We’re merely seeing a new angle on an old idea. Take a look back through history and you’ll see how the vampire has had enough accessory changes to make Barbie jealous.

During the python-like constrictive Victorian era, authority figures hated everything. Thus there was no way that a magazine could openly write about sex. Naturally, this simply invoked writers’ creativity in finding loopholes. So they transformed the agonizing experience of being ravaged by a vampire into a sensuous experience. What better metaphor could there be for making out than some creature nibbling on a person’s neck?

Credit for many of the modern vampire’s traits goes to James Malcolm Rymer’s 1845 creation “Varney the Vampire”. The vampire’s standard self-loathing nature, amazing strength and hypnotic powers were among Varney’s “privileges” of being a blood sucker. Oddly enough, Varney had no problem with sunlight. (No, he didn’t sparkle.) He could function as a perfectly normal human being without aversion to religious items or garlic and some minor disagreement with food.

It was only through the works of other authors, like Joseph Sheridan La Fanu and Bram Stoker, that the vampire became cut off from “normal society”. While many of the vampire’s afflictions with religion, reflections and refreshments have come and gone, only sunlight has survived as the vampire’s main obstacle.

During the war-torn 1940s, the vampire filled a needed void by becoming a comedian for the populace to laugh at. By figuratively tearing out the vampire’s fangs, people felt that they could face anything. Even after the misguided efforts of 1950s paranoia tried to lay these creatures to rest, the vampire’s comedic role in series like the Munsters has helped it thrive and followed it right into today.

Dracula, and friends, took on a new role during the 1960s – hero. Not only was Drac fearfully funny, he was a creature to be admired and praised for the good that he does. In both a brief Dell comic book as well as an animated series, descendants of Dracula decided to fight for justice. That’s right; vampires weren’t just good guys helping the weak and needy. They were super heroic guys, saving the day and the damsels too.

Let’s not forget the 1980s when children stepped into the spotlight in all mediums. Even the vampire went to school. Oddly enough, the teenage vampire wasn’t usually angsty. The teenage vampire was cool. It was the popular kid that everyone wanted to be around. You’ve heard of the Fonz? The vampire was the Fangz.

From high school hunk to teacher and babysitter, the vampire’s been there. Befriending the “outcast” children of the world has become all part of the vampire’s persona. Apparently after meeting author Anne Rice, vampires got some feeling back in their….er emotional stability.

Cartoons like “Mina and the Count” and “Dear Dracula” give us Count Babysitter befriending the unpopular kids and showing them how to thrive in society. (Ironic, isn’t it?) We have the Count of Sesame Street teaching our youth the wonders of numbers. Count Chocula reminds our tots of the importance of breakfast.

For those who loved the scandal, Barnabas Collins kept the Dark Shadows series entertaining for 4 years. Let’s not forget the brat prince, Lestat. His free wheeling mischief has delighted audiences since 1976.

In the Shadow Hearts Covenant video game series, the vampire returns to its “almost normal human” roots. Only their ability to transform into bats and their, practically immortal, life spans separates them from average human. Joachim Valentine takes great pride in his wrestling prowess and seeks to become a world wrestling champion. He’s strong as an ox and has no problem with sunlight. He just happens to be a homosexual vampire. That’s all.

Next up we have Angel. Now here’s your little angst-pot. Beginning as a series villain on the 1996-2003 “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” series, Angelus received a soul and a spin-off series of his own. Now Captain Angst-a-Lot –er, Angel - feels bad for all of the harm that he’s caused. So he seeks to help everyone with their paranormal dilemmas. You know, protect people from supernatural baddies, finding a means of peaceful communications between the various demonic entities and defending himself from everything that wants to kick his tail for some reason. Angel does all of this while struggling to avoid being purely happy for even one instant because that’s his curse. Be a sad sack or lose your soul. Doesn’t that sound fun? Apparently it was good for 5 seasons.

So from beast to babe to babysitter and even baby, the vampire has experienced quite a colorful life over the years. Being a girl’s sparkly teen heartthrob bobble is merely the latest aspect to the vampire’s life. Who wouldn’t want a little sparkle on Valentine’s Day?

Now of course, throughout the entirety of the vampire’s life, it has still struck fear into the hearts of the masses. Every so often, someone manages to revitalize that fear by reaching back into the depths of history and recapturing the truly evil predatory beast that the vampire used to be.

What will the vampire be next? Perhaps they’ll get into politics or the legal system. How’d you like a real blood-sucking lawyer on your side? Maybe Dracula will be president someday.

• Footnotes:
• The Internet Movie Database www.imdb.com
• Anne Rice’s website http://annerice.com/
• Varney the Vampire’s Wiki page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varney_the_Vampire
• Shadow Hearts Covenant website http://www.shadowheartscovenant.com/
• Barnabas Collin’s Wiki page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnabas_Collins
• Shadow Hearts Covenant Walkthrough http://lparchive.org/Shadow-Hearts-Covenant/

Let's Change Names Because They Don't Know

Recently, the cancer support organization known as Gilda’s Club announced that they are changing their name to Cancer Support Community. The reason given is that most of their younger patients don’t know who Gilda Radner was. Instead of continuing to seize the opportunity to educate others about the life of one who suffered as they do but didn’t have their benefits, they’ve decided to change their name so as not to confuse the young patients.

You’re kidding, right?

We often see the issuing of an “Amber Alert” for a child. This has become the term for “A child has gone missing. Please be on the lookout for that child”. How many people know why the term “Amber Alert” is used? How many people know that the “Amber Alert” program is the living memory for Amber Hagerman?.

Over 16 years have passed since one family’s heart-shattering loss was rallied into a nationwide program that coordinates information outlets to locate abducted children.

Somehow, I doubt they’ll stop calling it an “Amber Alert” just because few people know, or remember, the story behind it.

If we’re out to accommodate the youth, we may as well start changing all street names, building names, park names and countless foundation names every two or three years. Just think how much confusion that would relieve all those precious little youths of having to learn about.

This got me to thinking about ordinary words we still use despite very few people knowing anything about them anymore.

Car engine power is described in “horsepower”. Ask the average driver what that means and you’ll probably get some vague answer about the speed of the vehicle. The fact that one horsepower is roughly equivalent to 746 watts of electricity is not exactly information hanging on most people’s refrigerator door. These days, engines can have anywhere upwards of 140 horsepower or more. Numbers like that don’t really make a horse sound all that strong. They could use the term “mouse power” for all most people care. As technology advances, the horses (and wattage) keep piling up.

Speaking of technology, our lives are increasingly surrounded by digital everything. The days of the round faced clocks are fading away. Does today’s youth still know what the terms “clockwise” or “counter clockwise” refer to? To them, a clock is a numeric display rather than a round disc of numbers where time is expressed by the position of two different sized sticks.

With the advancement of computers, many kids learn how to type before they learn how to write with pencils or pens. Yet we still see the image of a feather dipped into a bottle used as a representation of a writer. How many people still know that this feather is called a quill pen? In an age of instant things, how many people would understand the concept of having to continually dip the quill into the bottle of ink in order to write?

Our world is full of antiquated terms and names still in common usage with little regard to why they are used. Changing something because it might “confuse the youth” has got to be one of the sorriest excuses that I’ve ever heard.

As a side note, the “Cancer Support Community” gave each local chapter the option of changing their name or keeping the name of Gilda’s Club. I’m pleased to say that my local chapter chose to keep Gilda Radner’s memory alive through the use of her name.

Footnotes:

Special thanks to Pepe K. for word ideas.

Information gathered from the following sites:

Gilda Radner’s Internet Movie Database page
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0705717/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1

Amber Alert America’s Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response http://www.amberalert.gov/

The Story and History of the Amber Alert http://www.amberalertcreator.com/

“Horsepower” entry on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horsepower

Quill pen image from “Sweet ClipArt” http://sweetclipart.com/

Concepts of Ages

I’m beginning to write a story which involves a grandmother telling her granddaughter a story. A real conceptual change occurs to me that I hadn’t realized before.
Grandma and Grandpa are no longer the people who lived through the Great Depression or the World War II decades. Grandma and Grandpa are now the ones who protested for equal rights among the races and genders, went to Woodstock and fought in Vietnam. Drive-ins and disco are now what grandparents know.
What’s even stranger is that in only a few years (if not already) Grandma and Grandpa will be the ones who played arcade games and listened to cassettes. Individually, these concepts of age shifts have happened to many people. It’s only now that the children of the late 60s, 70s and 80s are in their 30s and 40s. Mainstream society is accepting the shift in age concepts. Even the people who aren’t parents can’t deny the generational shifts.
That’s a lot to think about. To us “grandparents” listened to the radio and worked to support the war effort. To our kids, “grandparents” watched the original airing of Howdy Doody, Star Trek and Batman as well as living through the Red Scare, Nuclear threats and the space program.
On the one hand, the shifting thoughts of the generations are disturbing because it means that we’re progressing through the ages of society. In another sense, it’s rather fascinating to see the age thought shift in action. It’s a gradual change. But I feel like I’m just now really beginning to understand the age shift as a mainstream thing.
Creepers, I’m getting old. Oh well. HEY YOU KIDS, GET OFF MY LAWN BEFORE I BLAST SOME R.E.M. DOWN YOUR EARLOBES!

Care Bears Teach Broken Aesops

According to “Tv Tropes”, a ‘broken Aesop’ is “a story where the moral presented just doesn't match the moral that the story actually contained”.

I bring this up because I encountered it over the weekend.

The Care Bears have received, yet another, incarnation in 2012’s CGI animated “Welcome to Care-A-Lot”. Admittedly, the drawing style is reminiscent of the old 80s Nelvana Care Bears series brought into a more 3-D form. Looks-wise, it is rather appealing.

Sadly, that’s about the only good thing about it. The bears have been reduced to single layered character stereotypes. Instead of just helping kids overcome issues, the bears usually have to learn moral lessons themselves. Um, why should a child listen to your caring preaches when you have to learn the lesson yourself?

Some folks may wonder why I’d watch some show aimed at the preschool sect. The simple reason is that I was a child of the 80s. I like to look in at the reboots of old shows. Plus it’s amusing to check in on what they try to shove at little kids every so often.

The episode that I caught this weekend was called “Welcome to Grump-A-Lot”. Grumpy Bear prepared to watch the ‘Honey Bowl’. He laid out a great snack spread for himself and made himself nice and comfortable. Just as he started to watch the game, Funshine Bear came along and helped himself to Grumpy’s snacks. Then he invited himself to watch the game with Grumpy all the while still hogging the snacks. Next, Harmony Bear showed up asking Grumpy to build something for her. When she found out he was trying to watch a game, she invited herself to watch as well...and wouldn’t shut up. Then we see Share Bear, Cheer Bear and, the obligatory obnoxiously precocious child character, Wonderheart Bear each show up to further prevent Grumpy from watching the game.

Naturally, Grumpy finally became extremely upset with everyone. His tummy symbol released a nasty storm cloud which changed everyone to negative versions of themselves. Poor Grumpy is forced to fix the situation because the annoying forest creatures wouldn’t leave him alone since the other bears weren’t around to coddle them. For some reason, the production crew felt that Grumpy Bear was the one in the wrong and needed to learn a lesson about controlling his frustration.

I’m sure their intentions were in the right place. Unfortunately, their presentation was very badly done. This episode showed that it was ok for others to walk all over a person without regard to their personal space or feelings and that person should accept that.

Now I know that the moral values and attitudes have changed quite a bit since the 80s. But is that really the kind of lesson we want kids to learn? I guess the Care Bears think so.

Footnotes:
Thanks to the following sites for info and images.
Tv Tropes tvtropes.org
Internet Movie DataBase http://www.imdb.com
Tumblr tumblr.com

Resurrect: Reboot: Repeat

Besides being a 1994 CGI animated series, ‘reboot’ has become Hollywood’s buzzword for the 21st century. With remakes like Frankenweenie and Dark Shadows as well as series reboots like Steel Magnolias, GI Joe and Scooby Doo, it seem that Hollywood has well and truly given up the ghost on new concepts.

Of course, remaking previously told stories in some ‘new’ way is nothing new for Hollywood. Thomas Edison’s The Great Train Robbery (1903; directed by Edwin S. Porter) has been remade at least four times over the past century. Even Thomas Edison chose to ‘remake’ the movie with a child cast as a 1905 parody.

Let’s not forget the more than 20 incarnations of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Each version tried to ‘reimagine’ the story in its own unique style.

Have you ever been stuck for an idea? Go meet Dracula. From Abbot and Costello (1948) to Batman (2005) and an original cast in the Monster Squad (1987), tangling with Dracula has become a quick buck mainstay of many studios. (He who mentions Billy the Kidd gets a boot to the head.)

What some people may not realize is that story retreads aren’t just a Hollywood thing. The comic book industry ‘reimagines’ its characters so often that they’ve resorted to designating parallel Earth numbers to each version. All over the internet, there are servers overflowing with ‘alternate version’ fanfiction tellings of series, movies, plays and books.

The idea of rebooting a story goes back even further than Hollywood. Classic books like Little Women (1868 & 1869), The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and the beyond infamous A Christmas Carol (1843) all have been ‘reimagined’ by various playwrights.

It could be argued that story reboots have been going on since humanity began telling stories. The legends of mythology went through many remakes as they advanced through geography and time.

What truly amuses me about the current crop of reboots is that they stem from the 1980s. 80s programming has been denounced as being too merchandise driven. Yet here we are watching My Little Pony, GI Joe, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and many other “25 minute toy commercials” being rebooted and remade as some supposedly new thing.

Has the century produced some new things? Yes, we’ve seen the rise of brilliantly told series like Invader Zim (2001), Avatar the Last Airbender (2005) and the Walking Dead (2010). Even the horror genre got a nice little revival in Ring (2002 – originally Japan’s Ringu 1998), Saw (2004) and Paranormal Activity (2007).

Some people may be tempted to blame the Writers’ Strike of 2007-2008 for the influx of reboots. Considering that the entire decade has seen reboots of series like TMNT (2003), Scooby Doo (Take your pick), Care Bears (2004) and others, this argument is void. It’s even less valid when you consider that the Writers’ Strike of 1988 didn’t stop the innovation of the 1990s with shows like Chip’n’Dale’s Rescue Rangers, Animaniacs, the PowerPuff Girls and the Simpsons.

So come on, Hollywood! Get the dead out and find some new concepts again!

Footnotes:

Thanks to the searching powers of
Amazon.com
Internet Movie Database
Wikipedia

Legend of Korra Episode 2 - Brutal Bending Lessons!

With the television debut having been this weekend, I feel it’s safe to do an episode summary/review. If you haven’t seen the episodes or don’t want to hear about them, this post is not for you.

Please remember, you’ve been spoiler warned!

Episode Two, “A Leaf in the Wind”, opens with Korra reading the news about the latest Pro Bender Match. She has been a fan since she was little and dearly wants to see a real match. Tenzin hardly shares her opinion of the Pro Bender Matches. He intends for Korra to stay on the island to train. The army of White Lotus guards is there to make sure that she does just that.

The next morning sees Tenzin and Korra discussing the fact that Korra can’t air bend despite her many attempts. It’s also here that we get another wonderful “human moment”. Korra is not wearing the shawl for the air nomad costume correctly. Tenzin merely helps her adjust the shawl correctly. All the while, the duo is discussing the fact that air bending has been Korra’s elusive element. There’s no verbal acknowledgement of the shawl faux-pas at all.

It’s also here that we begin to see the different personalities of Tenzin and Pema’s children. Jinora appears to have her father’s self-control and lower key attitude. Ikki is still hyper happy. Meelo is… basically a human Lemur.

Finally we get to see what air bending training really looks like. Apparently, it’s a bit evil. To get the feeling of flowing like a leaf on the wind, a beginner must weave through a gauntlet of spinning wooden panels. Despite the children’s encouragements, Korra’s attempts are less than impressive. To be honest, I can’t imagine Tenzin being cruel enough to put his little kids through that. Jinora does give a good demonstration of how it’s done. But that thing would beat the crap out of Meelo!

No one can say that Korra is a quitter though. That night, she tries harder than ever to force air bending to work and ends up Fire bending in frustration. She becomes distracted when she hears some of the White Lotus sentries listening to a Pro Bender Match on the radio. Tenzin discovers her and sends her to bed.

For someone who’s supposed to be an Air bender, Tenzin is uptight. Korra calls him on that fact during meditation. “You’re telling me to embrace freedom. Yet you won’t let me listen to the radio and forget about leaving this island.” As one can guess, Korra grows increasingly frustrated with her inability to grasp Air bending.

Once again, nightfall brings Korra out with an escape. This time, she heads to the arena to see a Pro Bending Match for herself. Discovered by an elderly gym owner, Korra is about to be handed to security when she is rescued by a Pro Bender named Bolin. He introduces Korra to his twin brother, Mako. Korra gets to see her first match as well as her first Pro Bender fighting style lesson.

Back at the island, things still aren’t working out well. Her frustration finally peaks. Korra gives the panel gauntlet a taste of Fire bending power. Tenzin is understandably upset considering that this device has somehow managed to survive for 2,000 years. Without concern, Korra blames him for her frustration and stomps off. Again, we see an endearing “human moment” as both Jinora, Ikki and the audience realize that Tenzin’s feelings have been hurt. Even Meelo’s comical copying of Korra’s words and actions can’t detract from the emotion of the moment.

While Tenzin and his family sit down to a meal, Korra sneaks off to the Pro Bender Match again. This time she arrives to a very sullen Bolin and Mako. Their Water bender has ditched them. A team cannot participate without all three elements being represented. Korra ends up filling in and the match gets underway. In her exuberance, Korra ends up Earth bending which leads to the match referees’ realization that she is the Avatar.

When Aang’s revelation as the Avatar was announced, his friends didn’t want to play with him. They claimed that being the Avatar gave him an advantage and would be unfair to the other players. Things have really changed over the past 200 years. The referees decide to allow Avatar Korra to play with the stipulation that she only Water bend.

Naturally, Korra’s first match gets off to a shaky start. To make matters worse, Tenzin arrives to confront her. After an altercation, Korra returns to the match. Tenzin is about to leave but decides to stay and watch. With the opposing team really giving Korra all the bending they’ve got, something clicks. Perhaps a panel gauntlet just wasn’t the proper motivation that Korra needed to unlock her potential. But a barrage of elemental bending attacks sure did the trick! Korra weaves and dodges long enough for the rivals to tire. Then she, Mako and Bolin take the fight to them.

Later, Korra comes to Tenzin to apologize for lashing out at him. He concedes that he was to blame as well. Although she still can’t Air bend, Korra is ready to get back to training – both with Tenzin and with Mako and Bolin, her new Pro Bending Match partners.

With the first two episodes alone, Korra has proven that it will be another great series for Nickelodeon. Beautiful backgrounds, wonderful life in the character animation and an engaging storyline promise to keep fans deeply immersed in the Avatar world for years to come.

To be honest, I’ve only got two questions of the series so far.

1. Can Korra metal bend?

2. Has Katara passed on the forbidden “blood bending” power to anyone?

Thanks again to Tumblr.com for the pics.